SEAGEN, a tidal device developed by Marine Current Turbines, has passed a significant milestone by generating its two-millionth unit of electricity to the energy grid in Northern Ireland. Said to be the world’s first and only commercial-scale tidal-stream energy turbine, the 1.2MW device is located in Strangford Lough.
MCT says it is now operating 24 hours, seven days a week, and is apparently well on course to be the first tidal system to meet the power-generation criteria for the UK Government’s Marine Renewables Deployment Fund.
SeaGen is said to be the only tidal-energy system regularly generating power into the UK electricity grid, and is the only tidal system to be accredited by regulator Ofgem as a UK power station and also as a recipient of ROCs (renewable obligation certificates).
MCT says its tidal device is producing as much electricity as an average offshore wind turbine of double the capacity – and, unlike wind power generation, SeaGen’s output is wholly predictable.
Technical director Peter Fraenkel said of the MCT milestone: “Passing the 2million kWh mark represents considerable progress and underlines the significant potential that our technology and base-load tidal energy has to offer. We are delivering marine energy on a daily basis, which shows that our SeaGen technology is leading the race to harness the power of the seas by a large margin.
“More importantly, SeaGen has been generating power for the past two years and therefore is unique as the world’s only megawatt-scale tidal turbine with a verifiable and audited generating track record.”
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